Yesterday, monday March 22, at the last minute, we received the news of the release (with charges) of Sara, one of the eight imprisoned for the demonstration on 27 February in Barcelona. The appeal lodged by the defence would prove, by means of expert evidence, that it could not have been her who sprayed flammable liquid, as the police statement claimed.
Once again, this story, with its categorical assertions, reproduced by so many media outlets, is beginning to fade. Sara was arrested, charged and imprisoned as the perpetrator of the van fire without the right to the presumption of innocence. Just like the rest of the people arrested and today imprisoned.
Sara’s photo, her name and details appeared in the media, first in La Vanguardia, echoed by the Italian press. A few days before she was due to serve a month in prison, she was released with charges after her lawyer and an expert witness for the defence proved that it was impossible that she was the person accused by the police, the public prosecutor and the court.
This is a first step and a very important one. It breaks the frame-up and let’s hope it stays that way. An alleged criminal organisation of which nothing is known because it does not exist, formed by anarchists and Italians. An alleged attempted murder attempt, that after viewing the images and the police searches, a bic lighter and clothes with the smell of gasoline remain as evidence.
The unanimous reaction of the employers, the City Council (Ada Colau) and the Government (interior minister), and the media was very serious. Not even a month has passed since the arrests, and already the whole process is being called into question, forcing the court to release Sara on bail, pending trial and with precautionary measures. The appeals of the rest of the prisoners are still pending before the provincial court and we hope that they will be released.
As happened previously in operations Piñata and Pandora, also against anarchism and anarchists, after a few months in jail it finally came to nothing, the people released and free of charges. But no one resigned, asked for forgiveness or took responsibility.
Congratulations to Sara for her freedom, although under surveillance, and let’s hope that the rest of the appeals will also be attended and they will be released.
El Lokal
Carrer de la Cera, 1 Bis
El Raval, 08001 Barcelona
https://squ.at/r/3q2
http://ellokal.org/
Directory of squats in Barcelona: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/city/barcelona/country/XC/squated/squat
Directory of squats in Catalonia: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/XC/squated/squat
Directory of groups (social centers, collectives, squats) in Catalonia: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/XC
Events in Catalonia: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/XC
